Andover rocks to raise money for local mental health support
The annual Andover Rocks festival takes place this weekend
Last updated 1st Sep 2021
'We are back' that's the message from this year's Andover Rocks festival.
The event which raises money for music intervention in adult mental health takes place over the weekend (3-5 Sept) at multiple venues across the town and includes live music, yoga, story-telling and singing workshops.
The event was founded five years ago by Marie Ponting after she discovered local music therapy wasn't widely available to support adult mental health:
"I've got five children and I've had post-natal depression quite a few times over those children but the last child was exceptionally traumatic and led me into a really bad bout of post-natal depression and music was my main coping mechanism and I really used it as a point of recovery".
Marie said her original plan was for a one-off fundraising event, but five years later it's still going and has raised around £8,000 for local projects.
"One of the beautiful things about Andover Rocks is nobody gets paid, no performers, no organisers, nobody. Everybody does it for what 'Rocks' stands for, which I find incredibly humbling actually, so all the money raised goes into projects."
Around 300 volunteers including artists and workshop hosts are involved in the festival, and Marie says there's something for everyone:
"The opening night on Friday is at the Queen Charlotte which is an acoustic evening, and then at the Rock House which is a rap and spoken word event, which is a new one and then on the Saturday the workshops start, because I like the holistic side to music as well gong baths, chants, and yoga because moving the body to music can be extremely beneficial.
"Come and have a go come and have a go at something new, come and experience something new, come and treat yourself to acoustic music or a band whatever you fancy come and be kind to yourself."
You can find out more about the event on the Andover Rocks Facebook page or on their website